“A senior prosecutor working on the so-called grand conspiracy investigation into a wide array of President Trump’s enemies has resigned from the case, adding to the turmoil that has recently plagued the inquiry,” the New York Times reports.
Quote of the Day
“If folks have been stealing from the American people, shortchanging the American people or screwing over the American people, we are going to hold the crooks accountable.”
— House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, quoted by the Associated Press.
Susan Collins Denies Allegations in Corruption Report
“Sen. Susan Collins is vehemently denying a ProPublica report out earlier this week that says the FBI targeted her in a corruption probe,” ABC News reports.
Said Collins: “The Biden Justice Department found that there was no wrongdoing by any one of my campaign staff, my office, or me. This is absolutely outrageous. It’s clearly a political hit job.”
Fox News: Susan Collins tears into bribery allegations as new claims emerge during critical Senate battle.
Don Jr.’s Wedding Could Force a Reckoning On Corruption
“President Donald Trump has spent the last 20-plus months thumbing his nose at conflicts of interest,” CNN reports.
“And yet, corruption isn’t generally considered to be among Trump’s biggest political problems.”
“But Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding could be changing that dynamic somewhat — to the point where even some Republican senators are finding the stench difficult to ignore.”
Corruption may be a sleeper issue but it’s so easily tied to affordability concerns of voters.
Do Voters Care Whether Susan Collins Is Corrupt?
Ed Kilgore: “The perpetually turbulent U.S. Senate contest in Maine took another turn on Tuesday when ProPublica reported that in 2019, Susan Collins was investigated by the FBI for a rather gross act of corruption but the probe later fell apart after the agency was purged by Trump.”
“It’s a long, complex story, but basically ProPublica found that an FBI investigation had linked an especially shady Hawaii-based defense contractor to Collins’s 2020 reelection bid. There was definitely a quid (contributions to a super-PAC backing the Maine senator) and a quo (designated defense contracts that only the company in question could perform), but Collins’s office has categorically denied there was a pro, a corrupt connection between the two. The allegations, as a Collins staffer has pointed out, were based largely on evidence supplied by the alleged briber in question, who is now in federal prison.”
“My purpose here is not to litigate the claims against Collins and her operatives, beyond observing that ProPublica has a very strong record for getting its facts right before pointing fingers. But the larger question is whether Maine voters, who in six weeks must determine whether Collins or Democrat Troy Jackson will represent them in the Senate, actually care if the incumbent is corrupt.”
Susan Collins Was Target of FBI Bribery Probe
“The FBI was quietly investigating a bipartisan group of over a dozen lawmakers — including Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — in connection with a sprawling pay-for-contracts bribery scheme. Then the Trump administration gutted the FBI’s public corruption unit,” Rolling Stone reports.
“According to a Tuesday report from ProPublica, the probe stemmed from a tell-all cooperation agreement between Martin Kao — the former CEO of the military contractor Navatek — and federal agents. Kao was indicted in 2022 on charges of making illegal campaign contributions, and according to ProPublica, informed the FBI of a nearly $1 million quid-pro-quo scheme that involved dozens of lawmakers.”
Selling Early Access to Trump’s Posts Is Likely Criminal
“A group of 53 former federal prosecutors and agents told a court Monday that President Trump’s media company is likely committing federal crimes by selling Wall Street investors faster access to his Truth Social posts,” CBS News reports.
How ‘Corruption’ Took Over the Midterms
Washington Sun: “The messaging has long been popular with voters — but it didn’t necessarily determine their ultimate vote. This cycle, however, with an acutely frustrated electorate that blames both parties for what they see as a corrupt system, there’s an opening, these strategists said. It depends on linking political corruption to the voters’ own financial circumstances, turning it from an ethical problem into a financial one.”
Trump Said Don Jr. Paid Back Russian Oligarch
“President Trump said Friday that his eldest son, Don Jr. had paid back a Russian oligarch who footed the bill for the younger Trump’s wedding festivities earlier this year,” the New York Post reports.
Said Trump: “It’s totally allowed, and a lot of people have parties, but it’s totally allowed. But as I understand it, he paid him back. He didn’t want to have that, so I hear he paid him back.”
RFK Jr.-Linked Nonprofit Solicited Payments for Access
“A nonprofit group with ties to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. solicited payment from companies in exchange for access to top agency officials at an upcoming event,” Bloomberg reports.
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“The single biggest part of our work is going to be focused on the Trump crime family. If you are involved in any way with the Trumps, and if you’re part of an American business, you’re going to respond to the Congress.”
— Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, quoted by the Financial Times.
Top Democrat Opens Probe Into Don Jr.’s Wedding
“The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Donald Trump Jr.’s relationship with a Russian oligarch who paid for much of Trump Jr.’s wedding earlier this year,” ProPublica reports.
“Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) sent two letters on Monday to the White House and Trump Jr. requesting records related to Trump Jr.’s financial relationship with the oligarch, Umar Kremlev.”
Empire of Grift
Anne Applebaum: “Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.”
Pardon Brokers Offer to ‘Put Pressure On the President’
CBS News: “There has never been such a dizzying pardon economy as there is in Washington right now — a Wild West of clemency populated by MAGA-connected brokers and influencers — where the old norms have been largely tossed aside.”
“Previously, those seeking clemency typically went through the Justice Department. More than two dozen DOJ lawyers weighed factors that often included an applicant’s remorse and evidence of rehabilitation, and recommended worthy recipients to the president. That process has been largely sidelined.”
CIA Officer Working Towards Plea Deal in Gold Bars Case
“A former CIA officer who was arrested in May after investigators found 303 gold bars worth $40 million at his home is working to finalize a plea deal with federal prosecutors that could help keep the case shrouded in mystery,” NBC News reports.
Loyalist Tapped by Trump to Oversee Probe Resigns
“A Trump loyalist who had been tapped to oversee a sprawling and controversial DOJ conspiracy investigation targeting political foes of President Donald Trump abruptly resigned Thursday,” ABC News reports.
“Joe diGenova submitted his resignation to Attorney General Todd Blanche amid what sources described as growing frustrations from Trump and senior DOJ officials regarding his work on the so-called ‘grand conspiracy’ investigation based out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida.”
GOP Touts Stock Trading Ban as Trump Keeps Trading
“Republicans are using their midterm convention to make a congressional stock-trading ban part of their anti-corruption pitch — even as President Donald Trump’s own investment accounts continue actively trading millions of dollars,” CNBC reports.
“Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is one of at least two speakers expected to call for restrictions on congressional stock trading during the Dallas convention’s opening day Wednesday, which includes a focus on ‘Government Integrity.'”
“Since returning to office, Trump has maintained an unusually large and active investment portfolio.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I mean, this is the most corrupt administration in American history. Donald Trump makes Richard Nixon look like a choir boy. It ain’t even close.”
— House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), quoted by MS NOW.
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